Love
by brenthforever
Summary: She knew exactly what had ruined the ignorant bliss of childhood, for this one and so many others. ‘I did,’ She thought, suddenly remorseful. ‘17 and I, we did that to him, it was our fault.’


"Please 18?" Bulma begged.

"And give me one good reason why I should?" 18 replied crossing her arms in disgust.

'I'll pay you! It will get you on the good side of all the others, Vegeta would stop hating you for being stronger than him that one time. I could go on." Bulma said desperately, her eyes strayed to the bedroom behind 18 where baby Trunks lay napping.

"Fine." 18 conceded. "Is this really what I have been reduced to?" She muttered.

"Oh you're the best!" Bulma said throwing her arms around the younger woman.

18 stood rigidly in Bulma's embrace. "He should stay asleep the whole time I'm gone, but if he wakes up his bottle's in the fridge. Just let him suck on it and he should fall back to sleep. I shouldn't be gone for more than an hour or two, I just have to pick up a few things and run some errands." Bulma smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. "I really appreciate this 18." She said sincerely and then grabbed her purse and rushed out the door.

"Babysitter." 18 muttered. She shook her head and turned on the TV. A few minutes after she had settled in however, a high pitched wailing began to come from the room Trunks was sleeping in. Sighing, 18 turned off the TV and went to see what the matter was.

Trunks had woken up, and was now fussing in his crib. His little fists clenched and un clenched and tiny trails of tears lined his cheeks.

"Shh!" 18 said irritated "Shush baby!"

The wails increased in frequency and volume.

18 sighed and picked up the crying child. She held him away from her and her continued to whimper, but at least the screams had stopped.

Trunks opened his eyes and looked at the cold crystal blue of 18's with fascination. He held out his chubby arms and waved his hands.

Realizing what he wanted, 18 moved him closer to her body. Not quite close enough to be considered tender, but still closer than he had been previously.

Tiny fingers closed on the fabric of her shirt and with an effort beyond the ability of any human baby, he succeeded in pulling himself close enough to nestle comfortably in the crook of her arms.

He had long since stopped crying. Now he was cooing contently. 18 suddenly remembered that Bulma had said his bottle was in the fridge. Carrying the now giggling child in her arms, she went to get it.

As soon as the bottle entered his line of sight, short little arms shot out reaching for it. Gently 18 guided the bottle to his mouth. He began to suck greedily at the milk and by the time she had made her way back to the living room, he was half done.

She settled down on the couch and watched with lucid fascination as the little creature guzzled what was left of his lunch.

'This little thing grows up to kill me, in another world.' She thought. 'But he's so innocent,"

By this time Trunks was finished his bottle. 18 had spent enough time around Capsule corp. lately to know that when he finished eating, Bulma would burp him. Tentatively, She picked him up and rested his chin on her shoulder. Very gently, she patted his back. After a few seconds, Trunks let out a belch worthy of his father after a good meal.

Even as she brought him back down to rest him in her lap again, she could see his tiny eyelids begin to droop.

'So innocent.' She thought again. 'What made something this sweet, grow up to be a fighter, and ultimately a killer.' But she wasn't even fooling herself. She knew exactly what had ruined the ignorant bliss of childhood, for this one and so many others. 'I did,' She thought, suddenly remorseful. '17 and I, we did that to him, it was our fault.'

Trunks had fallen asleep again but 18 was reluctant to put him back in his crib. 'I'll do better in this time.' She thought, gently brushing a lock of lavender hair out of the baby's face. 'You won't have to suffer because of me, little one.'

Then 18 did something very uncharacteristic. She wasn't really sure where it had come from, but she bent down and placed a kiss on the child's forehead. 'I promise.' She gently stood up and walked him back to his crib.

Just as she was closing the door after putting him down, Bulma crept in. "How was he?" She whispered.

"Oh, he was fine." 18 shrugged. "He woke up, but I fed him the bottle and he went right back to sleep."

"Good, good." Bulma smiled at the blonde Android. "Here," She said holding out a few bills. "I said I would pay you."

But 18 shook her head. 'I should be paying you.' She thought. 'For all I've learned here.' "Don't worry about it." She said. "Just promise you'll return the favor if I ever need it."

"Sure." Bulma smiled. "And 18, Thanks again."

18 nodded and turned to leave. "Bulma," She said with out turning around. "What do you call this feeling?"

"What feeling?" Bulma asked confused.

"The feeling, that you want to protect someone with your life. That if anything ever happened to them, you wouldn't forgive yourself. That you want to be near them."

"Oh," Bulma smiled. "That feeling."

"What is it?" 18 asked again.

"Love."

"Love." 18 repeated. She nodded, then walked out. 'I like this feeling' She thought.

-End-

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Awww. This just exploded in my head after I saw this picture:

.com/art/When-you-re-1-of-the-goodguys-123547627

And I had to get it down on paper before I forgot it. I guess this takes place some time right after the cell saga, before she is formally with Krillen. I don't think she's out of character here, though I know I'm bound to get some complaints. No one knows what 18 is like when she is alone. With baby trunks as the only witness, she could be truly remorseful for what her Mirai self has done to ruin an innocent life. And most of this story takes place in her head, so its not like she was open about it. Anyway, rant over. Please review or I will Sic a horde of starving and angry Saiyans on you!!! Lol.


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